Tuesday, June 15, 2010

In Memoriam Marie-Rose Vrijens

The creation of The Wall Street Journal Europe Future Leadership Institute has given me the opportunity to meet some remarkable people over the past 3 years. It was with shock and disbelief I received an email today about the death of Marie-Rose Vrijens, the Director Corporate Communication & PR of UAMS, University Antwerp Management School. I have seldom met a more joyous and vibrant woman, promoting 'her' business school, in the European education field. We met for the first time in 2007 over an ... invoice problem. When I told her about the idea of creating the WSJE Future Leadership Institute she immediately embraced the concept and proposed to collaborate with the Institute as soon as it was operational. As of 2008 the Institute organized a yearly leadership seminar at UAMS. This is a sad day for UAMS, for Antwerp and for Education in general.

For those who knew her: there is a church service at Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Lochtenberg, Eikenlei, Sint-job-in’ t Goor, Belgium: Thursday 17 June 2010 at 10.30 am.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

UK Book Launch and WSJE Leadership Seminar: The India Way

Two years ago I met a student at Cambridge, Pratik Dalmia. He was the President of the Cambridge University Investment Club. The student turned out to be a master organizer of all sorts of events. We started to collaborate at Cambridge. I supported several of his student events through The Wall Street Journal Europe Future Leardership Institute. Today the student is an analyst at a prestigious London Bank. Not too long ago he suggested me to connect to the authors of a new leadership book researching Indian vs Amercian leadership styles. This resulted in the WSJE Future Leadership Institute actually hosting the launch of the book in London, 25 June 2010.
If you are interested in leadership research or Indian Leadership, feel free to join us the 25th in London.

Date
25 June 2010

Topic
How Indian Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management

Organizing committee

  • The Wall Street Journal Europe Future Leadership Institute: Gert Van Mol
  • Sok Be - The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
  • Gutenberg Communications
  • Pratik A Dalmia


Venue
May Fair Hotel (The Danziger Suite)Stratton Street W1J 8LT LondonUnited Kingdom

Timing
25 June, 2010 from 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM (GMT)

How to attend ?
The seminar is free, but by invitation only. Seating is limited to approximately 60 people. If interested to attend send us your full details via the "Book Now' button below + explain why you want to attend or why we should invite you. The Wall Street Journal Europe Future Leadership Institute will then select the audience for this unique seminar.

Description
An evening with Wharton Professors of Management Michael Useem and Harbir Singh and Vindi Banga – former President Unilever, Global Foods, Home and Personal Care

Details
The Wall Street Journal Europe's Future Leadership Institute will host the UK launch of ‘The India Way: How Indian Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management’, a book authored by Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh and Michael Useem, professors from The Wharton School.
Please join us for the book launch, panel discussion and networking session. Canapés and drinks will follow. All participants will have the opportunity of getting a complimentary copy of the book courtesy the Future Leadership Institute. Since the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991, Indian firms have shown substantial growth and innovation. After the initial success of the information services firms was noted the world over, innovation in other industries began to receive attention as well. Harbir Singh and Michael Useem will discuss how they, through interviews with more than 100 of India's most visible business leaders, have identified a unique combination of features of modern Indian management that they call "The India Way." Mr. Vindi Banga, former President Unilever, Global Foods, Home and Personal Care, will join Dr. Harbir Singh to provide his perspective on the book’s themes.
Learn what insights the authors gathered from the leaders of companies such as Wipro Limited, Tata Consultancy, Hindustan-Unilever and Infosys. Come. Be part of the conversation.

Agenda
17.00: Registration and Welcome Address
17.15: Introduction to the Book: Professor Harbir Singh and Professor Michael Useem
17.30: Panel Discussion
18.00: Q&A
18.20: Networking over canapés & drinks

About the speakers
Harbir Singh is the William and Phyllis Mack Professor of Management and co-director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School. Dr. Singh is also Vice-Dean for Global Initiatives at the Wharton School. He has been Chair of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, and was Chair of Wharton’s Management Department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a PhD from the University of Michigan. He is widely published in the areas of strategy, governance, acquisitions, joint ventures, and restructuring and is the coeditor of Innovations in International and Cross-Cultural Management. In 2010 he was named one of top ten thought leaders in India.

Michael Useem is the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management and Director fo the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School. He holds a PhD from Harvard University, and his research had focused on leadership, decision making, governance, and corporate change. He has presented leadership development programs in India, China and elsewhere and with Harbir Singh and Jitendra Singh has offered an annual program on corporate governance in Mumbai. He is the author of several books on leadership, including The Inner Circle, Investor Capitalism and The Leadership Moment.

Vindi Banga joined Unilever in India and has since worked in a number of roles around the world. In 2000 he was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) which is Unilever’s operating company in India. HUL is India’s largest consumer products company; one of the country’s most respected companies and one of the most valuable companies on the Indian stock exchange. He led the creation of a One Unilever Global Foods, Home & Personal Care Global Category Organisation which is now responsible for innovation and marketing mix development for all brands. Unilever has 270 brands in 13 categories of which 11 are above €1bn each; these brands are marketed in 200 countries. He was also responsible for the sustainability agenda for Unilever. In 2004 he was appointed to serve on the Prime Minister of India’s Council of Trade & Industry. In December 2009, Vindi was named India’s Global Achiever at a CNBC-sponsored awards ceremony in New Delhi. In 2010 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards.

Book via the "Book Now" button at following site:
http://www.wsje-flp.com/events.php/286/uk-book-launch-and-wsje-leadership-seminar-the-india-way